Feb 21, 2014 3 min read

Mt. Pleasant Township officials will consider altering the zoning ordinance to enable Marcellus Shale companies to bypass the board of supervisors and head straight to the zoning officer for approvals on well pads, impoundments and other industry accessories.

The proposed “use by right” procedure would replace the current conditional use process, but only in the industrial district, which is the only district where frack water storage facilities would be permitted.

The board of supervisors will hold a public hearing 6 p.m. Wednesday at the municipal building to hear feedback on the proposed ordinance amendment.

Portions of the zoning ordinance were invalidated by supervisors at a meeting last October because the ordinance did not adequately provide for the use of impoundments and water storage facilities. For instance, the current ordinance does not include the extraction, storage and distribution of liquids and gasses under the “industrial use” definition, but that change would occur if supervisors approve the amendment.

Township manager Mary Ann Stevenson said the ordinance would be updated to mirror changes in the natural gas industry, which were unforeseen when the ordinance was written.

“Zoning ordinances can’t possibly predict everything that could possibly come up,” Stevenson said, adding the ordinance amendments would correct “a zoning invalidity.”

Additions to “uses by right” in the industrial district would include impoundments, above-ground liquid storage, oil and gas compressor stations, oil and gas processing facilities and oil and gas wells. In all other districts, the conditional use process would still be in effect.

All uses in the industrial district would be subject to six regulations, according to the proposed ordinance.

These regulations address site access, driveway paving, property lines and lighting. Industrial operations would be conducted at least 250 feet away from any residential property lines, and an eight-foot fence would need to be constructed around the work area.

The proposed ordinance was recommended for approval by the planning commission Jan. 8. Township solicitor Chuck Means said the ordinance would likely not affect any Marcellus Shale properties currently located outside the industrial district.

“The general rule is that, once an approved use is already there, it can continue even when the zoning ordinance changes,” Means said.

Natural gas drilling company Range Resources currently has four water impoundments within the township, none of which is located in the industrial district. Range recently appealed the township’s special conditions on the company’s Stewart impoundment, and the company also appealed the notices of violation that were issued for all four impoundments. It remains unclear how those legal proceedings would be affected, if at all, by the proposed zoning amendment.

“Those have been issued and they’re in the middle of a legal proceeding,” Means said. “Either now or in the very near future, it will be a matter in court.”